Rice Wins, 27-13, Over Carolinians
Capacity Crowd of 75,349 Sees Justice Throttled Down
1/2/1950
Rice's Owls overwhelmed North Carolina in the Cotton Bowl Monday, 27 to 13.
It could have been worse. The Southwest Conference champions had a relatively easy time with the Tar Heels, whose two touchdowns came in the final period.
Besides rolling up the its four scores, Rice had two good opportunities to increase the margin. They misfired but it made little difference. Outside of their two long drives to touchdowns, the visitors got no farther than Rice's 37-yard line. A capacity crowd of 75,349 fans, sitting under gloomy but rainless skies, watched the fabulous Choo-Choo Charlie Justice in action. But the North Carolina All-American was no great shakes against the big, tough Owl line. As the railroad men say, Choo Choo slipped his driver. He needed a little more sand on the track.
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In sixteen carries, Justice gained only 59 yards, which was something less than the crowd expected. He fared slightly better in the passing department, completing 50 per cent of his heaves. He threw fourteen, seven of which were caught for 63 yards.
In balloting for the game's most valuable back, Justice ran a poor fifth. Billy Burkhalter, Rice's sophomore from Texarkana, won the honor by vote of the jammed press box. James (Froggie) Williams, the Rice all-American end, who played like one, was voted the outstanding linesman.
Poor Justice, probably the greatest punter in college history on the basis of this 4-year record with the Tar Heels, was even outkicked. His average was 38 yards, compared with 43 for Sonny Wyatt of Rice.
Rice played its usual game-methodical as a pile-driver. It mixed a crunching ground attack with passes as they were needed. Two scores came on aerials, another from a 50-yard drive in which only one pass was used, and the last one after an interception of a Tar Heel heave.
One great factor in its victory was its control of the ball. The Owls had the ball on seventy-nine offensive plays; North Carolina on sixty-five.
That sounds fairly close but the visitors had the ball on twenty-six of those plays after the score was 27 to 0. The first quarter was scoreless but even in that quarter, Rice released the word that it would win. The Owls, the first time they had the ball, drove 71 yards to the North Carolina 13 before they bogged down.
They scored twice in the second period and once each in the third and fourth.
Rice rolled up 226 yards rushing to the Tar Heels' 174, and 152 yards passing to 80.
The Owls' first tally came on a 44-yard pass from Quarterback Tobin Rote to Burkhalter. The play capped a 57-yard assault. With the ball on the Tar Heel 44, Rote faded back and threw a soft screen pass to Burkhalter on the 40.
The fast little back ran down the side lines behind great blocking for the touchdown and Froggie Williams kicked the first of three extra points. He missed only on his final try in the fourth period.
The next time they had possession, the Owls promptly moved half the length of the field to another touchdown. Only one pass, a 10-yarder to Sophomore Sonny Mc Curry, was used in the surge. Most of the yardage came in short, steady blasts, with the touchdown being scored on a 2 ½-yard buck through center by Fullback Bobby Lantrip on third down. Big Joe Watson, the Owl's magnificent center, cleared the way.
At the half it was 14 to 0, Rice. North Carolina had gotten to the Owl 37 in the first period and to its own 45 in the second. The Tar Heels just weren't in the ball game, although a Justice-to-Johnny Clements pass in the first period had brought a slight thrill. Passing from the Rice 38, Justice's shaft was just a little too long. It slipped off the tips of Clements' fingers as he leaped vainly in the end zone.
In the third period, it was more of the same. The quarter was slightly more than six minutes old when Rice scored again. It drove 77 yards on six plays and a penalty. Burkhalter made a yard; Lantrip, on a delayed buck, roared through center for 19; Burkhalter bootlegged the ball and sneaked around left end for 6.
Then Rote hit Right End Billy Taylor for a 13-yard gain. Sonny Wyatt cracked right tackle for 7 yards, putting the ball on the Tar Heel 31. North Carolina was declared guilty of piling on and the ball was moved to its 17. Then Rote shot a pass to Froggie Williams on the 11-yard line. The All-American end tight-roped his way along the side lines and managed to get into the scoring zone without stepping out of bounds.
Rice 21, North Carolina 0. And the next time they had the ball, here they came again. The Owls moved sixty yards, all the way down to the Southern Conference champions' 2-yard line. Before Wyatt fumbled and Tailback Bud Carson of North Carolina recovered. But that only slowed up the slaughter; it didn't stop it.
In the last period, the Owls got their final score in two and a half minutes. North Carolina had the ball and was passing. Fullback Billy Hayes, who outshone Justice during the afternoon, threw a pass which Lee Stonestreet of Dallas, substitute Rice center, snagged on the Carolina forty. As several tacklers wrestled with him, Stonestreet handed the ball to Halfback Harold Riley, who sped away. He ran twenty-five yards, to the Tar Heel fifteen, before he was swarmed. Wyatt picked up three yards at center and then Burkhalter took a handoff from Substitute Quarterback Vernon Glass, ran far out to his left and cut back in to score standing up.
That made it Rice 27, North Carolina 0. After that final embarrassment, the Tar Heels woke up. But it was too late.
North Carolina immediately drove sixty-five yards for its first score, which came after the last period was nine minutes old. Justice, Hayes and End Art Weiner collaborated to move the ball twenty-seven yards on a varied assortment of plays, which included an end-around by Weiner and a Justice-to-Weiner pass.
That put the ball on the Rice 38. Passes and line bursts got it down to the 7 and then Justice threw a short pass to Blocking Back Paul Rizzo. He took the ball on the 3 and ran over unimpeded. Tackle Egbert Williams missed the try for point. Rice 27, North Carolina 6.
The final score came with only forty-seven seconds left in the game, and at the fag end of an 80-yard drive. Hayes gained forty-one of those yards with line burrows.
The touchdown play started from the 8-yard line. Justice tried to run left end, but a Rice tackler caught him by a shirt sleeve and spun him like a top. Justice apparently trid to lateral but the ball bounced crazily on the ground. The maneuver succeeded, however, as Rizzo seized the ball and ran for the score. This time, Williams made the point.
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